Toyota Repair: 1989 Toyota Failed Smog Check, smog place, combustion temperatures

Question
Back on  02-04-06 you replied to a person who's car had failed the CA smog check.  Your reply was:

"I have looked at the readings and the good news is that the HC and CO amounts are good, this rules out a lot of things like an engine problem or catalityc converter failure.
The high NOx readings are caused by a malfunctioning EGR system, you said the check engine light has been on but to really help you I need to know what the trouble code is.
But I'm confident it is related to the EGR system(probably a DTC PO401) The egr system is designed to reduce combustion chamber temperatures which cause a reduction of the NOx gases, if the egr system is not functioning the combustion temperatures will rise and cause the check engine light to come on, the computer monitors the egr gas temperatures and if there is not enough gas flow will turn the light on.
You will need to have a repair shop test why this is happening, to test the system requires a vacuum gauge and pump, a scantool and someone that knows what they are doing"

I have a smilar problem but for one thing. My car does not have a diagnostic feature. I know I know if you look in a repair manual it says it should, but apparently either my car came from Canada or it was only federally smogged because it doesn't.

The tech at the smog place told me it might have something to do with the EGR sytem but how will I be able to tell without any computer input?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Answer
EGR systems have been around for a long time, way before engines were computer controlled, their function is basically the same except in modern systems the computer monitors everything the egr system is doing.
The egr system is checked with a vacuum gauge and a vacuum pump, like I said before, any auto technician that knows how the system works should be able to diagnose it and make a recommendation on what repairs are needed. The scantool is not required in this case.